Space for Transparency This blog by Transparency International provides an independent and informed viewpoint on corruption. It gives a space to start a worldwide conversation on possible solutions to overcome corruption, and on governance, transparency and accountability.

We’re not there yet. As the limos leave Hanghzou and life gets back to normal in a city quarantined for the G20 summit, the leaders of the G20 countries are taking home a new set of prescriptions for dealing with the very real global pandemic: corruption. A fourth Anti-Corruption Action Plan to cover 2017-2018 is […]

The final two months of 2014 saw a surge of positive news for civil society whose collaborative and consolidated efforts over recent years to push for greater corporate transparency measures are now seeing the light.

Civil society has called for greater light to be shed on the real living people who ultimately own or control companies – the beneficial owners. Current levels of secrecy mean that global detection rates for illicit funds by law enforcement are as low as 1 percent for criminal proceeds.

Legal protection for whistleblowers living in the world’s biggest economies, the Group of 20, is patchy at best and needs to be strengthened to bolster the fight against corruption. The good news is that G20 leaders meeting in Brisbane in November can help make this happen. Ahead of the Brisbane leaders’ summit, Transparency International Australia […]

What does the future hold for the fight against corruption? Recently, three books have been written seeking to answer this question, helping to plot the course of the anti-corruption movement for the years to come. Laurence Cockcroft: Global Corruption: Money, Power, and Ethics in the Modern World One of the co-founders of Transparency International, Laurence […]

If you have not yet made it to the gym, fear not. Exchange that new year’s resolution for another: learn a new language. But make sure you learn one which has a more practical purpose than ordering a drink or finding one’s way to the swimming pool. It’s time to learn the lingo of bankers […]

The Australian government took the reins of the G20 on 1 December. In its vision it acknowledges that corruption is bad for business, but Australian business doesn’t seem to think the same, having dropped it from its top priorities for 2014. We think this is a mistake. “Corruption is a severe impediment to sustainable economic […]

It’s your bank. You see it. Walk by it. Use the cash machine. Get a loan. But is your bank paying taxes to your government, just as you do? Does your bank report on its profits or on how many staff it employs? In short, is your bank contributing to your community and your economy? […]

In the past weeks we have witnessed a great deal of news surrounding issues of transparency and accountability of multinational companies. In the UK, several international corporations including Starbucks, Google, and Amazon, have been questioned in Parliament over the little corporation tax they pay despite their large UK accounts. Tax evasion is facilitated by the […]

President Barack Obama, speaking to the United Nations General Assembly about the true nature of democracy, mentioned corruption and bribery several times. I was particularly struck by this line: True democracy demands that citizens cannot be thrown in jail because of what they believe, and that businesses can be opened without paying a bribe. Unfortunately, […]

317 Pressure on what are alternatively called ‘offshore havens’, ‘tax havens305’ or ‘secrecy jurisdictions’ is reaching an unprecedented level. There are more than fifty such havens world wide, and governments are finally coming around to the idea voiced by activists that tougher regulation is needed. The economic crisis has lent urgency to the cause. Britain’s […]

Space for Transparency

This blog by Transparency International provides an independent and informed viewpoint on corruption. It gives a space to start a worldwide conversation on possible solutions to overcome corruption, and on governance, transparency and accountability.